The following is a tabulation of some prior art that presently appears relevant:
United States Patent Application Nos. 2014/288,120 (“Ormsby”),
United States Patent Application Nos. 2012/807,075 (“Yumus”), and
United States Patent Application Nos. 2014/488,325 (“Belton”);
The National Football League (“NFL”) is big business. In 2016, Forbes estimated that the thirty-two NFL franchises have a combined value of approximately $74.8 billion. Due to the extreme popularity of the league, other markets and games—such as fantasy football—have emerged attempting to profit off of the in-game occurrences of the NFL. As such, Forbes values the fantasy football market around $70 billion, which approaches the combined value of all NFL franchises.
The rise and popularity of the markets and games supplemental to the actual NFL games is largely attributable to the unique social capabilities which sports, especially football, present. Moreover, such supplemental games offer football fans the opportunity to be invested in games they would otherwise overlook. As such, many football fans enjoy congregating at their local sports bar or in homes to watch games together; which, many times, results in attempts to predict the outcome of the game or even the next play or occurrence on the field. This social dynamic and ability to be invested in games is beneficial for the NFL, the fan, and the budding supplemental gaming industry.
Currently, the most dominant form of supplemental gaming on the market is fantasy football. However, since fantasy football is often an avenue for Internet gambling, this industry is heavily regulated by both federal and state laws. Such regulation has lead football fans to devise other methods for becoming more invested in the games. Such novelty devises include United States Patent Application Nos. 2014/288,120 (“Ormsby”), 2012/807,075 (“Yumus”), and 2014/488,325 (“Belton”); however, all such prior art devises appear to be limited in the ability to allow a participant to utilize coaching strategy and become invested on a play-by-play basis. Accordingly, a need exists for a supplemental gaming system which allows participants to think like a coach and utilize strategy to influence the outcome of the supplemental game rather than the outcome of the supplemental game being wholly reliant on the outcome of the actual sports game which is being played.